All-time Leg Makeup for a Sunless Summer Glow

How to get tanned Victoria's Secret legs with no sun.

How to get tanned Victoria'south Secret legs with no sun. Photograph: Michael Stewart/FilmMagic/Getty

Getting a tan is hard. If you're doing it the safety way, information technology can require marinating in the unpleasant scent of DHA and testing dozens of self-tanners, so there's still a chance you could wind up looking like Donald Trump. Even tanning the old-fashioned manner isn't as simple every bit "laying out." You need the subject to lay still like broccoli and the wisdom to navigate the fine line between tanning and burning.

Here's where leg makeup comes to the rescue. These tinted body lotions give you lot all the benefits of tanning — for one day merely (or until your next shower). In that location are dozens of these bronze-tinted body moisturizers on the market, all which vary in smoothen, glitter, ease of use, and results. I tested eight — and here are the all-time and the worst.

Jennifer Lopez spent virtually of the 2000s covered in Trunk Bling, a body-smooth product created by her makeup artist at the fourth dimension, Scott Barnes. (They infamously had a terrible falling out in which Lopez accused Barnes of selling tabloid secrets.) She was contoured and strobed earlier either one was fifty-fifty a thing, and her body perennially gleamed thanks to this stuff. The good thing about Body Bling is that it will give you lot that exact glow. A lilliputian bit bronzes yous without obvious sparkles or glitter, making you experience like y'all, as well, were part of that infamous BAffleck yacht moment.

But be warned: This glow is actually intense, with a spotlightlike polish. Also, without a makeup creative person on hand to reapply it every 5 minutes, the glow disappears, and then you have to proceed reaching for it again and again. It is the Sisyphus of trunk-glow products. And if you have white furniture or sheets, don't even go near them with this stuff. If yous aren't as olive-skinned as J.Lo, try the Platinum, which will still brand you about five degrees tanner.

Nars Monoi Trunk Glow, $59

When I was a teen pouring over mode magazines, I read that Nars Torso Glow was responsible for giving models a sexy glow on the rail. But what they left out is that this trunk oil volition brand you lot odour like you're living your best life on a private island — it's scented with monoi oil, the indigenous oil to Motu Tane, the bodily private island purchased by Mr. Nars following the sale of Nars to Shiseido. The formula is a bit sheer merely not glittery. If you are naturally pale, this won't give yous that much additional color. But information technology glows particularly nicely on those with olive or darker peel tones.

Votre Vu Silk Stockings, $34

This is a nice glowtion — glowy balm — that goes on like an like shooting fish in a barrel moisturizer, making it easy to make yourself iv gentle shades tanner with very little effort. The formula isn't glittery, and it blends easily, even across the palest of pare. I really like this i because information technology blends easily, without any streaks, obvious sparkles, or excess shine. It also doesn't rub off or smell particularly strong. Start with this one if you are a leg-makeup beginner — you lot can see what it looks like tested here.

M.A.C Studio Face and Body, $27

If you need honest-to-goodness foundation for your legs, this is the thing for you. I bruise similar a tomato, and often wake upward in the morning with mysterious green marks that I don't recall getting. This is what I dab on my bruised spots when I need to actually conceal — and not just tint — my bruises. Information technology can exist a little apartment in texture, then information technology'due south nice to blend with an oil or add any of these other body-glow products on acme for a bit of dimension.

Emerge Hansen Airbrush Legs, $12.99

This is the best drugstore selection and a favorite of Kim Kardashian, who used it to cover upward her psoriasis. It gives you lot that Kate Middleton–in–sheer–stockings–wait without making your legs await too perfect. While it has a sheen, information technology doesn't have glitter in information technology. Depending on what shade you lot use, it tin can make you look more tan (perchance a lot more tan), merely it mostly evens out the skin tone on your legs. If you use the spray, make sure y'all hold the bottle at to the lowest degree six inches away from your skin so that the product comes out in a fine mist for even application.

Tom Ford Shimmering Trunk Oil, $98

This torso oil is very, very, very sparkly, like Robert Pattinson in Twilight in a field. And it doesn't add together much color. But I love it because information technology smells and then, then, so adept. It smells like hot skin in St. Tropez mixed with expensive kokosnoot sunscreen on a yacht. This production falls under the category of "ridiculously sexy Tom Ford products that offer little practical use in my daily life" — 1 of my favorite categories of beauty products.

Charlotte Tilbury Supermodel Glow, $65

Since Supermodel Glow is a Charlotte Tilbury product, you can presume that it's already been tried and tested on many of her famous clients from Amal Clooney to Kate Moss. Skilful task on the user-credence testing for this product, Charlotte, considering it's pretty idiot-proof. A tinted trunk balm in ambery, glittery caramel, it's dispensed via a roller to deliver what she calls that "annoying Brazilian tan." A natural-looking Brazilian tan is not really within the realm of possibility for someone like me, whose foundation shades often contain the words "beloved" or "beige." But after rolling this slightly shimmery, totally non-sticky balm over my legs, I did look annoyingly similar I'd been somewhere tropical for a couple days.

Pretty Peaushun, $29

Legend goes that celebrity makeup artist Bethany Karlyn used to deport around a homemade Tupperware container of torso makeup to photo shoots for clients similar Tracy Anderson and Gwyneth Paltrow, until they urged her to get in a sellable product. She listened, and Pretty Peaushun is the result. If your winter felt like an endless serial of Leg Days, you're going to love this. The dewy, tinted moisturizer glides over your muscles, making them look more toned and defined. Think of it equally a much more subtle version of the pre-competition body-builder tan.

Compared to all the other products on this roundup, this really counts as strobing for your body — the formula contains actual lite-reflecting particles that aren't glittery. The only negative is that the upshot isn't subtle, just your legs will await amazing, so who cares? Information technology comes in several colors, requires picayune energy to blend, dries quickly, and doesn't rub off.

All-time Leg Makeup for a Sunless Summer Glow